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Topic: More Amsterdam...... (Read 1896 times)

Well, with the blizzard in NYC I'm stuck here for three days..... It's horrible, no really. There's herring and smoked eel coming out of my ears.... and Bokbier out of my nose....Even though some of it's Heineken (BMC a la Holanda for all intents and purposes).

The only Brew pub in AMS that I am aware of....(The Heiny mafia rules, big time)

Had a sampler of all the beers on tap. and ended up loving the Bock, but more importantly, it was quitting time for three brewers and I got to chat with them for a few hours and pick their brain....

Closed fermentation, ONE private yeast strain, "borrowed" from a commercial brewery 25 years ago, now "well adjusted". Two batch infusion. "Flat" fermenters, rack to secondary. A top fermented "Pilsner" coulda fooled me. No filtration. 1500 if not more empty beer bottles from EVERYWHERE around the world on little shelves around the walls a few feet below the ceiling. And a lot of happy people in the house. Open from 3pm to 8pm ("You get a very different crowd after 10")

They've apparently been around for a long time. Quite a number of years ago, I struck up an email correspondence (started on the HBD) with a Dutch homebrewer & beer judge. He visited family in FL & brought me bottles of several of he 't IJ beers. One was a fairly non-descript lager, not bad but not a standout. The other was an ale, not reading Dutch I don't know exactly what it was supposed to be. I'd describe it as a saison or farmhouse ale. Very nice. That's all I know about them, but recall the beer still and it's been maybe 16-17 years ago.

There is a movement, but it appears smaller than one would think. I believe that the plethora of good beer a few miles South in Belgium, and spilling over into Holland has taken away some of the urgency to fight the fight.....

Cool place. I was there a a year or so ago and thought the beers were pretty damn good.

I might be a bit late, but if you're bored, I'd say hop a train for the short trip to Leiden. Very nice little town. There's also a tiny brewery there that brews one of the better American IPA's I've had (definitely the best I've had outside the USA). I had it at a really cool English bar called the North End. Excellent (but expensive) choice of whiskies as well.

I haven't been there during the New Years Eve party but have heard all about, heres a older post from a tourist @ Dam Sq._______________________________________________________________________________________________

Fireworks are the biggest part of Dam Square partying, and they rarely shoot into the sky but are big old rockets aimed into the crowds. I saw more than one bloke with his rocket set in an old champagne bottle ready to be launched.

There were 10 of us, and we huddled close with the brave men on the outside of our circle until the alcohol set in and the fireworks lost their fear. That’s not to say we didn’t get hit. One friend had a rocket explode by her leg and was “wounded” by the shrapnel. The pain wasn’t felt that evening with too many natural anesthetics coursing through her body, but she had a good bruise the next morning

For all my screaming, I was only hit once on the hand, and by the countdown I too had left the security of the guy circle!!

10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1

Oh, my God, this wasn’t Amsterdam, this was Iraq. We were under siege. Fireworks everywhere, people yelling, screaming, more fireworks, singing, the smoke clears... any dead??? Time to really celebrate we are all here in one piece--alive. Rejoice!! The music carried on and the square did not calm down for a few more hours. Some friends and I climbed onto one of the lion statues and somehow managed to dance whilst clinging to the stone mane. The tunes were techno now and the crowd was ravin’.

Man, I love Amsterdam. and I have to say that I found the Heineken and Amstel to be not that bad. It is not the same as here, I think? Is it that it is fresh?

It can be crazy there for sure. The first time I was there it was in the ealy spring, nice quite streets and alley ways to stroll around in. Very nice people. Then I flew out as I always use Amsterdam as a starting point. When I came back, it was spring break or something. Man, what a mad house. I was just amazed at how tolerant the locals are. It was just jam packed with maniacs everywhere. People smoking pot outside, which I think is just plain rude considering the tolerance there The quaint alley ways were almost impassable and loaded with urine, vomit and fecal matter. No rooms, and I slept in the park. Just awful.

If anyone is considering going to Amsterdam, what ever you do dont go in the spring.

How bout bicycling there? On a real dutch bicycle? Hard enough to to do by itself let alone after a few hours in a coffee shop. I have to say that is one area where the Dutch are not so tolerant. Man, they are serious. After you get the hang of the center of gravity on one of those bikes you have to learn the rules of the road. I never did.

Racked a few times, and was cursed out many others, I never even figured out what I did wrong cause I cant speak Dutch.

They didn't have the white bicycles there any more by the first time I got there. But I did see some in Harlem, There is a museum off in the woods near there, cant remember the name but it had loads of Van Gough's. They had the white bicycles there all around that park. I just love those bikes, for some reason its very gratifying to pull up and hand a bike off. The art museum is a must see if you like art.